A little sparkle!

Easter is just around the corner and this year it is going to be very meaningful to us as Captain’s family from Rome will be coming down to Dubai to celebrate with us.  Even though it is going to be sad without ‘Nonno’ as we fondly address my late father in law, but at least the family could get together and remember him. 

 I started buying small decorations to put the house in the Easter mood starting with these glittery eggs.  They are multicolored and so striking I can’t help but picked them and brought them home.  Captain’s niece, France would be all over them, definitely but she would be disappointed when she discovered there are no ‘sorpresa’ or surprises in the eggs!  In Italy, all Easter eggs come with a little surprise inside – from t-shirt to toys to jewelry.. you name it chances are they have it!  You’d never know what you’d get until you break them. Fun, isn’t it?

Speaking of glitters, today I chose this sparkling crystal embellished tank top to go with my loose white pants to run some errand.  I had this top for while now having bought them at Aizone, my favourite boutique here in Dubai.  It is cute and the colorful crystals just brighten up my day!  The denim shirts added a bit of masculinity and toughen up the whole outfit for that casual on the go look. 

Outfit

Cyrstal embellished top : Rawyalty

Denim shirt : Koton

Pants : GAP

Flats : Vera Wang Lavender

Bag/Carry-all : Gucci  

Leather Cuff : Uterque

Pictures by : AD

FOODIE WEEKEND - Quick Beef Stew

I have been down with cold for a few days and to add cherry on the cake, I injured myself during one of the yoga sessions (between downward dog and warrior one) and was diagnosed with protrusion disc (determined after half an hour spent in the MRI).  I was given some Arcoxia, anti-inflammation medicine and some muscle relaxant and was asked to stay away from the gym or yoga mat for 2 weeks until my next visit with the doctor.

So, moments like this I need some major consolation in the form of food but too lazy to labour too long in the kitchen.  After raiding my freezer and discovered that we had some nice cuts of steak, I decided to treat myself and the gang with some beef stew.  I called this beef stew ‘Quick’ because the other recipe for stew that I have requires 3 hours of cooking time which sometimes can be an inconvenience especially when you plan your cooking at the last minute.

This recipe is suitable for both beef or lamb and takes about an hour to prepare.

Quick Beef Stew

Ingredients (serves 4)

4-5 peices of beef steak, about 600 grms cut into peices.

( you can use beef cube instead but choose the tender part)

1 whole onion diced

2 clove of garlic

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme

2 potatoes, skinned and cubed

2 carrots skinned and cubed

2 celery stick chopped to about an inch long
(I didn't put this, it was not available in my fridge)

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of flour

750 ml of beef stock

1 tablespoon of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Some extra virgin olive oil

Method

In a pot, heat some olive oil, then slightly cook the beef on high heat until slightly brown.
Remove and set aside

In the same pot using the leftover oil, add in the onion, garlic, potatoes and carrot (celery as well if you have) until colored. 

Then add the chopped tomatoes and stir well.

Add in the flour and stir until it is incorporated, no lumps left behind.

Return the beef back to pot and add in the stock and bay leaves.

Cover and let it cook for half an hour.

After half an hour, uncover and season stew with black pepper, salt and sugar.

Let it cook for another 15 minutes before adding the thyme.

Serve hot with some bread.

Mall Therapy

It finally rained yesterday here in Dubai after almost 2 years of no serious raining.  At least yesterday morning we could see the puddles on the street, wet grass in the garden and that fresh after rain breeze.  I sort of miss rainy days when the city literaly submerged after a few hours of rain and my wellies would make their appearence ;) 

Picture taken from my bedroom window about 2 years ago when it rained the last in Dubai. 

Captain went on his trip to Venice and I thought I would take some ‘fresh air’ aka mall therapy today.  Since I am still down with cold, I decided to put on this light poncho and scarf to protect myself from the full blast air conditioning in the mall.  Sometimes I think they are overdoing this air-conditioning thing especially at the malls.  Brrr...!

I love this poncho.  I have used it a lot especially when travelling in the aeroplane.  It is big and comfortable, just perfect!  The pink scarf has doubled as a sarong on many beach vacations.  It is big and bright and this dull (grey and black) outfit needed exactly that.

Outfit

Poncho : H&M

Leggings : Jane Norman

Scarf : Splash

Bag : Vintage Chanel

Booties :  Naturalizer

Bangles : Parfois

Ring : Gift from Captain

Pictures by : AD

Red pants and red nose - Review

I guess it is my turn to be down with cold.  Captain had it, the boys too and now me!  I went to bed with a headache and woke up with face like a punching bag and nose as red as Rudolph.  On top of that I woke up late and had to say ‘sayonara’ to my promise to take the boys to a Spring Fair organized by their old school where all their ex-classmates were attending.  Great!  Well, done Mom!

So, to make up to them, we took them out for dinner and on the way, stopped by the bicycle shop for their new rides.  They are ready for big boys bikes and  to ditch the old kiddie rides they’ve outgrown.  Makes me a bit sad, realizing that my  babies are getting big and soon …. Ok, stop it!

I was really not in the mood to go through my closet in detail so, I grabbed these red jeans I bought recently from Forever 21 (together with a blue and a purple!  Mental note :  buy a pair at a time to test especially if it was your first time buying from that particular label) and paired them with this top from Young, Fabulous and Broke. 

I didn’t want to spend a lot on this new trend (colored jeans) since I was not sure if it will suit me. I normally buy tops from Forever 21 but have never tried any of their pants or jeans.   So, to try them out I bought not one but 3 pairs.  I guess I got carried away by the price.

The verdict : The stitch work is bad and the thin material leaves little ripples along the seams.   With that said, what do I expect from a pair that cost less than $20, right?  I will stick to buying only the tops from them and since I bought these 3 pairs, I’ll wear them anyway at least for a while.  I'm now on a hunt for a good pair/pairs.  Suggestion?

Outfit

Top : Young, Fabulous and Broke

Jeans : Forever 21 (New)

Shoes : Nine West (New)

Bag : Mulberry Alexa

Jewelry :  Vintage from www.etsy.com

Pictures by : Captain

Simple pleasure

I have good boys.  You may say, I say this because they are my boys but really, they are good kids for a pair of 13 year olds - simple, no fancy demands or wants and for that, I feel blessed and thankful.  The best things about the boys and I, is that we are friends.  We can hang out and talk about movies, games, their friends, my childhood days and our favourite of all, music.  Oh, yes, we can really hang out.  So once in a while we would go out and do simple things that they love.

Yesterday was one of those days. After they were done with their homework, we took a drive to Dubai Mall and took a stroll while admiring windows of the stores, had some treat at Paul’s and visit their favourite store, The Virgin Megastore. We browsed the music and movie section and of course their favourite section, the video games section

The Waterfall @ Dubai Mall

Beautiful waterfall that never failed to amaze them

Their favourite store

Browsing through their favourite section

Mommy's favourite store

Indoor date tree

Pastries at PAUL's

Hand made soap at LUSH

Later, while singing along to Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s Californication, we drove to our favourite local take out and brought home some succulent local equivalent to burritos, the shawarma.  Oh, they love shawarma.  They even said to me that when we would leave Dubai for good, they would miss shawarma the most!

Our favourite local take out - Metro Falcon Shawarma

Yum!

At home, we had our dinner while chatting about music and school and later we watched a couple of episodes from Prison Break DVD that we have bought earlier at Virgin Megastore before bidding each other good night. 

It was a simple and sweet outing.  We had a great time and I look forward to our next outing, soon.

Outfit

Cashmere sweater : Massimo Dutti

Camellia Pin : Chanel

Jeans : Siwy

Shoes : Kenneth Cole

Bag : Gucci

Bangles : Vintage Monet via http://www.etsy.com/

The truth about high heels and me

Oh, high heels..  It is always bittersweet for me to talk about them.  How I love them.  I can spend hours at the shoe department in Harvey Nichols, trying them on.  Lately, there are so many beautiful pairs, so many styles and heights but sadly, most of them are not for me. 

Louboutin

I have a bunion on my right foot.  Yes, it may not be pretty but it is a common problem faced by many including fashionista and designer Victoria Beckham.  I do not actually remember when it actually happened.  What I remember is that when I was working in advertising as an Account Servicing Executive; I was running around between pitches in high heels.  It was never a problem for me.  I had many pairs and colors to match my suits (yes, those days in early 90s, ‘matchy-matchy’ was in) and how I rocked them.  Then I quit advertising industry and ventured into TV Production where most of the time people were in their tees, jeans and tennis shoes running around shoots and studios.  My high heels were forgotten, given away to siblings, friends or dusting in the shoe closet. 

Brian Atwood

Many years later,  I moved to Dubai and made some new friends.  I started going out with my new found friends for ‘girl brunch’ once a week.  Some of the ladies were wearing their high heels and I was inspired again.  But my heels, they didn’t like me anymore!  They hurt so bad after half an hour and made me wonder how did Victoria Beckham do it?  What’s her secret?  Maybe there is no secret.  Maybe you have to suffer for fashion.  Maybe that’s why she hardly smiles because her bunions are screaming inside those sky high Louboutin! 

YSL

So I stopped wearing heels, especially the court/closed type with pointy tips (Manolo? Forget it!) I stopped buying expensive shoes due to fear of wasting money if they didn’t work out for me.  

Nicholas Kirkwood

But a few days ago, my hope to be ‘elevated’ in style again was back as high as the 5 inches Brian Atwood, when I bought a pair of high heels from Nine West with rounder tips (think YSL Tribute pumps) just to see how I’d do in them and guess what?  They didn’t hurt!  I walked perfectly in them so far (errr, for about half hour)!  Maybe the rounder tips help.  Maybe it is too soon to judge.  I am going to try using the shoes until October (my next visit to the States) and if they worked out fine for me, I’m going to treat myself to a pair of YSL Tribo pumps and if not, I’ll just console myself with a pair of Chanel Cambon flats instead!  Either way, the wait will be worth it J

My 'training pair' Nine West. 

Does any of you ladies have the same problem?  If so, how do you manage?